System in Assassin's Creed

Chapter 85: Chapter 84: Basilica Di Santa Maria

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---Previously---

Flavia frowned, looking down at her attire as if seeing it for the first time. ”Then... are you also an Assassino?” she asked Reuben directly.

”No,” Reuben replied easily. ”Why do you ask?”

Flavia tilted her head, a spark of mischief returning to her eyes despite the situation. ”Well,” she countered, gesturing vaguely at Reuben’s simple red polo and black pants, ”the way you’re dressed and all.”

Reuben raised his eyebrows at the jab, surprised into a chuckle. ”Fair point.”

They continued following Alaric, who pushed the damaged doors open wider and stepped into the vast, echoing darkness of the Basilica’s interior.

---Now---

Alaric paused just inside, letting his eyes adjust to the gloominess of the church that was lit only by the faint light from the moon filtering through the high windows. ’Now... from what I remember from the game, the lever should be...’

His gaze scanned the massive nave, past rows of columns, towards the main altar at the far end. He looked up. High above the altarpiece, amongst the ornate carvings, was a small, almost hidden platform with what looked like a lever mechanism.

’...There,’ he smirked.

Without warning, Alaric took off, sprinting down the central aisle, his boots echoing loudly in the cavernous space. Reuben and Flavia widened their eyes slightly at his sudden burst of speed.

As he neared the altar, Alaric launched himself upwards, using conveniently placed ledges and architectural features as footholds in a way that seemed utterly impossible, scaling the wall towards the small platform far above.

Flavia watched, her mouth slightly agape at the sheer absurdity of his ascent. Reuben, more accustomed to Alaric’s unusual abilities, simply sighed and said quietly to Flavia, ”Don’t worry about him... we’re all relatively normal. He’s just... an outlier.”

They watched as Alaric reached the platform, grabbed the protruding lever, pulled it firmly outwards, twisted it ninety degrees with a metallic click, and then shoved it back against the wall.

*VVVVVMMMMBUUSHHHHH*

A deep grinding sound reverberated through the Basilica, accompanied by a low tremor underneath.

Dust rained down from above. Reuben and Flavia looked up, eyes wide, as a large section of the ornate ceiling directly above the central aisle slowly lowered, descending smoothly to reveal a hidden, sturdy-looking platform suspended high above the floor.

Another complex mechanism was visible on this newly revealed structure. Several thick metal bars also descended partway from the ceiling near the platform, clearly intended as handholds or swing points.

Alaric, still on the first platform near the altar, smirked again. ’I’m so lucky I played Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.’

’Well... it’s only natural they made these mechanisms for an Assassin to climb.’ He glanced at the bars, then down at the significant gap between his current position and the newly lowered platform. ’But I’m no Assassin...’

He placed his foot on the very edge of the platform, gathered himself for a moment, and then leaped.

It wasn’t a climb, or a swing, but a pure, gravity-defying jump across the open space, landing effortlessly and silently on the edge of the central platform high above the Basilica floor.

Down below, Flavia stared upwards, utterly bewildered. ”What is he?” she whispered, half to herself.

Reuben didn’t reply verbally, but thought, ’How does he know all these things? These places... these mechanisms...’

Alaric ignored their reactions, walking confidently towards the mechanism on the central platform. He grasped its handles, pulled it down with considerable effort until it clicked, twisted it firmly, and then let go.

The mechanism retracted sharply back into its housing with a clang.

A deeper rumble echoed from below. In the exact center of the Basilica floor, stone tiles shifted and retracted, and a small, futuristic-looking stone pedestal rose like a bullet from the ground.

Reuben and Flavia, startled by the sudden appearance of the pedestal and the strange light, instinctively jumped back.

”What the hell!” Reuben exclaimed.

”C-Cosa!?” Flavia gasped, staring at the object.

More grinding sounds echoed from above as multiple metal bars descended smoothly from the ceiling, forming a path from Alaric’s high platform down towards the newly risen pedestal.

Alaric grinned, looking down at his companions. ”Calm down, will ya!?” he shouted, his voice echoing in the vast space.

He turned and leaped towards the nearest descending bar, using a single foot to land on it. Using his momentum, he pushed his foot to launch himself to the next, then the next, until the last. He landed lightly on the stone floor near Reuben and Flavia, just a few feet from the glowing pedestal.

He walked closer, examining the object. It was smooth, cool to the touch, and seemed to pulse with a faint inner light. On its flat top surface was a distinct indentation, clearly some sort of pressure plate.

Suddenly, an almost shimmer passed through the air. Both Reuben and Flavia gasped softly as their vision shifted, the world taking on a slightly different hue.

The pressure plate on the pedestal now glowed with a bright, golden light, standing out sharply against the surrounding stone... their Eagle Vision had activated automatically in the presence of the artifact. Alaric felt his own vision shift similarly.

He turned to Reuben and Flavia, a knowing smirk on his face.

”You’re in for a surprise,” he said cryptically.

He stepped up to the pedestal and hovered his hand directly over the glowing pressure plate, hesitating for just a second before pressing down.

*SHIIINGGG!*

A high-pitched metallic chime resonated through the Basilica, followed immediately by the sound of heavy, unseen mechanisms grinding deep beneath the floor. Reuben and Flavia looked around nervously, wondering what Alaric had triggered now.

The floor beneath their feet suddenly lit up with faint lines of blue energy, tracing complex patterns across the ancient stone. A quick, sharp quake shook the building, causing Flavia to stumble slightly before regaining her balance.

Then, with a deep, powerful rumble that vibrated through their bones, the entire section of the floor they were standing on began to descend smoothly, like a massive, silent elevator plunging into the earth. The walls of the Basilica slid upwards past them.

”What’s going on!?” Flavia cried out, grabbing Reuben’s arm for balance as the platform continued its descent into darkness.

Reuben gripped the edge of the pedestal in the center of where they were standing on, staring wide-eyed into the abyss opening below. Only Alaric remained perfectly calm, standing casually in the center of the descending floor, looking entirely unfazed.

After what felt like a couple of seconds, the platform slowed and came to a smooth stop, leveling out with a new floor deep underground.

The surrounding area was dark, the only light coming from the faint glow of the pedestal and unseen sources further ahead.

As their eyes adjusted, they could make out two imposing statues flanking a path forward, each figure holding a spear, standing like silent sentinels.

As they watched, the ground near the statues began to move. Stone shifted and reformed, rising up to create an elegant double staircase leading further down into the darkness. Intricate designs along the stair walls began to glow with a soft, steady blue light, illuminating the way forward.

Reuben finally found his voice, staring at the impossible architecture revealed before them.

”W-What in the world is happening...” he stammered, turning to Alaric. ”’Laric, what is this place!?”

Alaric smirked, his eyes gleaming in the dim, blue light. He looked at Reuben, then gestured towards the underground passage.

”I told you years ago, Reuben... there are many secrets hidden in this world.” He started walking towards the newly formed staircase. ”And this? This is one of them.”

Reuben and Flavia exchanged another bewildered look but followed Alaric down the glowing stairs. The staircase descended into a large, circular chamber. At the far end stood a massive, ancient-looking wall covered in complex geometric embeddings... circles within circles, intricate triangles, and lines that pulsed faintly with the same blue light as the stairs.

”It sure has lots of circles and triangles...” Alaric muttered and stopped before the wall, examining the patterns and tracing one of the designs with his eyes.

Flavia looked around the chamber, then back at the seemingly impassable wall. ”So... is this it?” she asked, a hint of disappointment in her voice. ”A dead end?”

Alaric turned, a confident smirk spreading across his face. ”Not in the slightest,” He raised his voice slightly, addressing the wall itself. ”Seventy-two!”

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